‘Love thy neighbour’ is one of the most commonly quoted phrases from the bible, and yet it’s one which not all Christians ascribe to, as Gretchen Wylder discovered in alarming circumstances. Wylder was raised in a religious household, and for a while believed she was a good Christian: this must be why she didn’t fancy boys. Fast forward a few years and she came out as a lesbian and developed an interest in tarot. On moving to New York her parents offered to pay her rent for a year if she would submit to conversion therapy, including electric shock treatment. You can see why doubt in her faith began to creep in. How could a religion that professes love treat people so cruelly? 

This, however, was only the start of a twisting horror story that sees Wylder buying a cottage near Salem and being hounded to terror by her Christian neighbours. It’s a gasp-inducing tale, and though this one-woman show is a little rough around the edges, Wylder’s skill and dexterity as a storyteller, along with her meditations on the women erased from the bible, make it a burning gem with a beating, human heart. 

2025 Salem Witch Trial, Greenside George Street, until 23 August, 10pm.